[An Urgently Assembled Symposium]
International Historical Controversy over Professor Ramseyer’s Essay
ProgramPart I: Reports
Yamamoto Yumiko, deputy chairman, iRICH: Introduction of Professor Ramseyer’sessay
Nishioka Tsutomu, Professor, Reitaku University: Rebuttals of criticisms of Professor
Ramseyer’s essay
Takahashi Yoichi, Professor, Kaetsu University: Ramseyer’s essay read by aneconomist
Arima Tetsuo, Professor, Waseda University: Problems with the media over thecriticism against Professor Ramseyer’s essay
Fujioka Nobukatsu, Former Professor, Tokyo University: Professor Ramseyer’s essay
and history textbooks
Video messages by Lee Woo-yeon (South Korea) and Mark Ramseyer (United States)
Part II: Discussion
Participants: Hata Ikuhiko, Former Professor at NihonUniversity, Takahashi Shiro,
Professor at Reitaku University, Takahashi Yoichi, Arima Tetsuo, and Fujioka
Nobukatsu (moderator).
April 24, 2021: Seiryo Kaikan Hall

Our purpose in holding this urgent symposium,“International Historical Controversy over Professor Ramseyer’s Essay”
In December of last year, law and economics Professor Mark Ramseyer, Harvard Law School,
posted a scholarly essay, “Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War,” on the International Review ofLaw and Economics’ website. His aim was to analyze the relationship between comfort women andentrepreneurs in terms of “game theory,” based on the fact that comfort women were licensed
prostitutes, which has been thoroughly demonstrated by academics in Japan.
Once the details of Professor Ramseyer’s essay were published in the Sankei Newspaper, January 31,
12021, fierce rebuttals erupted in South Korea from scholars and activists, who claimed that thecomfort women were “sex slaves”. Following suit, in the United States, Korean scholars andstudents raised a chorus of condemnation against Professor Ramseyer.

Criticism is healthy. However, we cannot ignore the campaign that demanded the withdrawal ofProfessor Ramseyer’s essay--militants have boasted that they have collected signatures of more than
3,500 scholars worldwide. Even with 10,000 signatures, the facts will not change.

In any event, these actions represent a growing totalitarian trend that favors suppressing the freedomof inquiry and poses a serious problem that we absolutely should not ignore in a free society.
Disagreement should be performed within the confines of academic debate and inquiry. There isreally no room for pressure, through force of numbers, and coercion of anyone’s carefully consideredthoughts.

To counter the totalitarians, we have planned this symposium from the standpoint that, here in Japan,
the country that has the highest concern regarding the comfort women issue, freedom of inquiry ofcontroversial topics must continue. Reading Professor Ramseyer’s essay will help us establish ourown respective views.

In Japan, the current hot topic is that junior high school history textbooks that will be used for fiscal
2021 have descriptions of the “military comfort women.” In this sense, the comfort women issue is a
topic that Japan will never evade.

Some time in the near future, we hope to have the opportunity to hold an earnest and serious
discussion with scholars of the “sexual slavery” school.

Until then, this symposium will explore the main issues and problems the current international viewof the “comfort women” and demonstrate the critical analysis that has developed within Japan. We
truly hope that many will be interested in our efforts.

March 3, 2021

International Research Institute of Controversial Histories (iRICH)

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